INFOGRAPHIC: Startup Funding in Africa & the Middle East — Week 49, 2025
Here are the venture funding activities we tracked in the Middle East and African region this week – including SwiftVEE, COGNNA, Immobazyme, Funch, and, Rology.
This week, the Middle East and Africa startup scene is lighting up with big funding wins, showing investors are betting on bold ideas across tech, agritech, biotech, and healthcare.
The biggest splash comes from South African agritech SwiftVEE also made headlines, raising about $10.1 million to expand from a livestock marketplace into embedded financial services. Led by HAVAÍC and Exeo Capital, the round brings in former Old Mutual CEO Iain Williamson, alongside existing backers, signalling serious confidence in the company’s next growth phase.
Saudi-based cybersecurity startup COGNNA closed a $9.2 million Series A during Black Hat MEA 2025. Led by Impact46 and co-led by BNVT Capital, the funding will accelerate the company’s agentic AI platform, helping it scale globally and strengthen its position as a regional security innovator.
Back in South Africa again, biotech startup Immobazyme followed with R25 million ($1.45 million) in growth capital, lifting its total financing to R50 million (around $2.9 million). The round, led by the University Technology Fund UTF II with support from Stellenbosch Enterprises and new strategic investor Fireball Capital, will fuel the company’s expansion in life sciences.
On the earlier-stage side, UAE-based foodtech Funch secured $500,000 in a pre-seed round led by Angelspark, with participation from high-profile founders including Swvl’s Mostafa Kandil, Mahesh Murthy, and others, underscoring growing faith in the region’s early-stage ecosystem.
Meanwhile, Egyptian AI-health startup Rology closed a growth funding round with support from healthcare leaders like the Philips Foundation, Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, Sanofi Global Health Unit’s Impact Fund, and MIT Solve Innovation Future. The funding will help expand its AI-assisted teleradiology platform across the region.
From cybersecurity to agritech, biotech, foodtech, and healthcare, this week proves one thing: investors are confident in Middle Eastern and African startups with ambitious ideas, and these companies are ready to scale, innovate, and make a global impact.
